Seasonal labour for spring harvest, PYO daffodils, The science of flowering, Decline in pollinators

Farming Today

• Episode: Seasonal labour for spring harvest, PYO daffodils, The science of flowering, Decline in pollinators
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:13:36
• Published: 2019-03-27 07:00

Spring is in the air and across the UK's flower-growing regions, blooms are popping up just in time for Mothering Sunday. At Woodborough Garden Centre near Pewsey, their 'pick-your-own' model allows visitors to come and cut their own daffs. BBC Wiltshire's Sue Kinnear speaks to the centre's garden manager, Gemma Sparrowhawk - and Anna Hill learns that many commercial flower growers could be envious of that PYO model, this year... Farmers and growers have been vocal about their concerns over labour shortages, driven they say by uncertainty over the value of the pound and workers' rights, once we leave the EU. Last month Matthew Jarrett, the managing director of agricultural recruitment agency Pro-Force, told Farming Today that a lack of workers had already impacted daffodil growers. Anna finds out how the situation is progressing from Lee Abbey, chief horticulture advisor at the National Farmers Union. From flower pickers, to flower science - specifically the process that's responsible flowering, which known as 'vernalisation'. It was received wisdom that crops like wheat need a period of cold, to trigger that transformation. The plant then times its flowering to coincide with warmer weather and longer day-length: a process that should ensure the highest possible yield. Now, research by the John Innes Centre has found it’s not just cold weather controlling vernalisation - warm temperatures also affect the transition. Anna visits a glasshouse full of winter wheat with Laura Dixon, who is leading the research. A new report has issued a fresh warning over declining pollinator numbers in Great Britain. Researchers from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) assessed records for the presence of 353 wild bee and hoverfly species from 1980 to 2013. They found that one third had seen declines in the number of areas in which they're found. The results also showed that on average, the geographic range of bee and hoverfly species dropped by a quarter: that's equivalent to a net loss of 11 species from every square kilometre. Anna asks the CEH's Dr Nick Isaac, how the agriculture sector should respond.